When advice is a valuable currency

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is extending a hand -- and advice -- to two ethnically oriented Los Angeles performance troupes.

Instead of cash, East West Players, an Asian American theater company, and the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, an African American ensemble, will have access to managerial expertise over the next two years.

The aim is to help strengthen their behind-the-scenes administration and planning. The two L.A. groups are among 15 producers of African American, Asian, Latino and Native American works nationwide chosen for the new initiative, which is partly funded by $500,000 from SBC Communications Inc.

Help will come via seminars and online dialogues during the program’s first year; then the Kennedy Center will pick up the tab as graduates of its Vilar Institute for Arts Management join participating companies’ staffs for up to a year.